Transportation Improvement Plans

Overview of TIPs

TIPS: Transportation Improvement Programs

Transportation Improvement Programs are adopted bi-annually by the Regional Planning Commission (RPC). They are prepared cooperatively by the RPC, acting in its legal capacity as the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the New Orleans urbanized area, and Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD), and affected transit operators.

TIPs consist of priority lists of projects (both highway and transit) which are being advanced toward construction over the four-year period, FY-19 to FY-22. Projects found in the TIPs have evolved through the transportation planning process and are contained in the region’s long-range Metropolitan Transportation Plan.

Both the local TIPs and State TIP are identical documents containing a common set of projects proposed for federal funding. TIPs and STIP are products of a consensus-building process carried out jointly by the RPC and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

Both the TIPs and STIP are on a two-year update cycle. However, the TIPs are reviewed annually by the RPC and selected revisions are permitted, following formal amendment procedures.

Projects contained in the TIPs are derived from Phase I of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan. Projects are largely reconstruction-oriented consisting of roadway rehabilitation, overlay, and traffic signalization. Bus transit and rail rehabilitation and extensions are also emphasized along with intermodal facilities development.

Projects identified in the TIPs are part of the approved Transportation Plan and refer to improvements being funded under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act).